Garden 2015

Somehow the renovations in the Bakehouse and the Cartshed have meant that the garden has slipped in the priority for updating.  However, still time to remedy that since the weather has been so cold and the garden has not really started to bloom as yet - but it's starting:

The rockery and the pond are starting to mature and although the pond still suffers from a bit of pond weed the water lillies will begin to provide some shade for the water as they grow - the chemicals help too in the early days of Spring as there are no fish in the pond.

Looking from the pond towards our neighbours garden - and new fence - with a swathe of bluebells and whitebells still in bloom.

 View from the top of the garden towards the apple tree.

 Forget-me-not has found it's way into the garden, along with Honesty and Love-in-a-Mist.

Geums, Poppies, Anenome, Roses (not sure what they are as 'Lost Label' plants), Sedum, Chives,  Irises and lots more all in the bed at the top of the garden.

The vegetable patch - Carrots and Japanese Onions on the left - Spring Onions all now harvested from the space between then and the drill which is this years potatoes and to their right we have leeks.  In the foreground there are a couple of Raspberry canes and one of the three Rhubarb clumps to the left.

This clematis was severly cut back two years ago as it was growing right up at the top of the tree - the remains are still there to this day as the wind has not blown them out yet and they are too high to pull down.  Good evidence that it's hard to kill a Clematis!

The Comfrey is going mad again this year - I will need to try and tame it or move it to the bottom of the garden next year - same approach that we are taking to the Soapwort further up the garden this year.

 The beech whips are starting to burst into leaf.

 The other two clumps of Rhubarb and a randon Erysmium (Wallflower) that sneaked into the garden with a re-planted rose.

 Loads of poppy plants growing under the apple tree!

 View past the lilac tree and the path down to the apple tree

The herb garden - Rosemary, Mint, Chives and parsley for now.

The archway, the little green ceramic half-circle hanging on this side is for 'fat balls' - moved from the courtyard as clearly the birds had not found it there but they have now!

 The poppies have now come out en-masse under the apple tree and they are a wonderful splash of colour - once I had removed some of the Comfrey plants which were taking over this patch.  Comfrey is apparently a great addition to compost heaps and can be used to fertilise plants as well in the form of 'Comfrey Tea' however, it is quite a powerful plant so needs to be used with care.

 

The poppies are also growing through the garden and here with Alliums and Honesty.

The Choysia has it's own little circle of logs from the Eucalyptus tree - as they season before providing logs for the fire - the greenery under it should turn out to be red poppies but may also be some Mallow plants in there which might jy=ust have to be moved.

The path leading back to the pond is laden with the fragrance of the Deutzia bush which didn't bloom last year at all as it was so overgrown it needed to be pruned very hard - result this year is a bush heavily laden with blossom.

 My first dahlia - on the basis of this I think i need to be aiming for a first at the Village Fete - it's beautiful even if I say so myself.

 British Queens, courtesy of my dad, they are floury potatoes so not necessarily an 'English' favourite but they go down very well in northern ireland.

The hollyhocks seem to like it under the stabilising wire of the telephone pole against the fence and our neighbours appreciate the view.

 An early evening shot of the walk into the garden with the Verbena providing a view through into the rest of the garden.  In the foreground the mint and the rosemary are somewhat overgrown now................!!

These sunflowers were seeds in the 'climbing plants' packet which went into the window boxes and hanging baskets in the courtyard - clearly they had to be rescued and having transplanted them into the end of the bed at the top of the garden they are now racing away and are huge!!  So clearly we will have sunflower seeds to plant in the garden next year for free!!